Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Woman confines daughter for more than a year

Deliverance: Sujatha, who was confined to a room by her mother, being rescued by the police in Anantapur on Sunday.

ANANTAPUR: An incident of a woman confining her young daughter to a corner in her house for more than a year came to light in Neeruganti Veedhi of the Old Town here on Sunday. The young woman’s cries for food prompted the neighbours to inform the media and the police who rescued her.

According to the neighbours and the police, Sarojamma, a sanitary worker with the Anantapur Municipal Corporation, was living in the house with her daughter after being deserted by her son who left home five years ago to live separately. Her daughter Sujatha, now aged about 25 years, was not completely sound mentally since childhood.

Sarojamma’s son, Ravikumar, offered to take care of his sister ever after his marriage but the former refused to part with her daughter stating that she could take care of her well. Sarojamma would leave home in the early hours every day by locking her daughter inside. When the media and police went there they were shocked to find Sujatha naked in the room.

The neighbours said that Sarojamma would not give clothes regularly to her daughter, as she felt that washing her clothes was a burden.

Lack of a bath for a very long period left Sujatha’s skin covered with layers of dust, her nails were overgrown and her hair was unkempt and shabby. She came to the window again only when a neighbour Laxmikanth called her and offered her some food.

She had the food within no time, making it clear that she was not getting proper food for long. The police summoned her son before breaking the lock open to rescue Sujatha and sent her for treatment to the general hospital here. One Town Sub-Inspector Shubha Kumar said Sarojamma was at large since the information about the rescue of her daughter spread.

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Woman confines daughter for more than a year

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